Horse shopping

[Pippity]

Before I was seriously looking, there were suitable horses everywhere. Now? Not so much.

I've scoured Horsemart, Horsequest and Horse & Hound. Where else should I be looking for a 5-7yo, 14.2hh-16.2hh, capable of carrying a 12st rider comfortably? Green in the school 100% okay, but would like it to have done plenty of hacking/got out and seen things, and have as basically sensible a personality as a horse that young can. Looking to bring it on for a bit of low-level everything, hacking, fun rides, etc. I know I'm basically looking for what everybody is, but I thought my budget was realistic at £5k. Will I have to go higher, especially as I'd rather not have a piebald hairy cob? (I'd take a piebald hairy cob if it ticked all the boxes, but it would stop being hairy as soon as I got the clippers on it!)

 

[Meowy Catkin]

5yo mare, 15.2hh grey arab x warmblood.

http://www.arabianlines.com/for_sale/index.htm

 

[Pippity]

Unfortunately, she's a bit too far away, but that's something I could look at expanding. I've been restricting my search to within an hour or so of Warrington (because I don't want to drag my instructor off to the far ends of the country to get her opinion) - I may try looking a bit further afield and just take lots of video for her to watch instead.

 

[Leo Walker]

5yo mare, 15.2hh grey arab x warmblood.

http://www.arabianlines.com/for_sale/index.htm

I really like her! Its not a great photo but I bet in 6 months time with some schooling and muscle she will be really stunning

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I didn't even look at the OP's location (sorry P) but I agree Leo, she should mature nicely. Lots more photos in the ad, but no decent confo shot. The ad gives me a good feeling about her though

 

[Polos Mum]

Sorry of no help but I wouldn't wish horse shopping on my worst enemy !

Good luck OP - unless you are in a real rush I wouldn't extend the search radius or you'll just be more frustrated to drive 3 hours to see something lame, not as described or dangerous ! Get very good videos esp. of them on the road before you travel miles. There is no reason now for someone not to be able to take a 60 second clip of their horse doing what it's for sale to do.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I must be lucky (or not choosy enough) started looking and within 2 weeks I tried 5 very green ISH from 5-7 all at dealers (priced £5-6.5k) and then tried a 9yr old KWPN at a private home, liked him, passed a 5-stage and bought him. I didn’t travel further than neighbouring Surrey and Kent.

Hoping nothing goes wrong now and he hasn't got any underlying physical or mental issues that haven’t yet manifested but everything is a gamble. Had him two months now and so far so good 🤞.

 

[atropa]

I think the trick is just to stop looking, I always seem to buy something when I really shouldn't be buying

 

[Pippity]

Sorry of no help but I wouldn't wish horse shopping on my worst enemy !

Good luck OP - unless you are in a real rush I wouldn't extend the search radius or you'll just be more frustrated to drive 3 hours to see something lame, not as described or dangerous ! Get very good videos esp. of them on the road before you travel miles. There is no reason now for someone not to be able to take a 60 second clip of their horse doing what it's for sale to do.

I'm not in a massive rush, but it's frustrating to be paying for a place on a yard and not getting the fun of a horse!

 

[w1bbler]

Annoying as the sites are, everything seems to get advertised on Facebook now

 

[Squirily]

I was looking for the same, countless viewings and got very disheartened. Stopped looking but one ad jumped out at me, went to see her and she ended up coming home a few weeks later. Horse shopping is the worst, as mentionned above wouldnt wish it on my enemy!

 

[diddy]

Sorry you're having a frustrating time of it. We also had real difficulty last time we were shopping. We started off like you with a pretty open mind about what we were looking for and ended up seeing away too many horses that were smaller than advertised, badly behaved or very sluggish (only thing we were sure about was we wanted a bit of speed when necessary!) Oddly enough, what worked for us was actually narrowing the search right down. Like the ad that Faracat posted, we thought a PB Arab might be a good bet. Depending on the cross it would probably be more or less the right size and it would be unlikely to be ploddy, so that took care of two of the main problems we were having with viewings - and (surprisingly perhaps) we only came across one example of bad behaviour once we started looking at PBAs! Being more particular about the breed meant we had to up the search radius (from 1 hour to 2), but we saw a couple of really nice horses and found our current mare very quickly. Like I say, it sounds a bit counter-intuitive but it worked for us.

D. x

P.S. That's two of us who have suggested an Arab cross and Leo seems keen also - take the hint

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

I've seen a lovely Suffolk gelding, ride & drive but I think he's 17.2 and having to be sold from field because they have no facilities. He's being sold for around £2k.

These are bred for common sense. Don't have feather and winter without rugs or clipping (having said that, mine has had his first ever bib clip thanks to the unusually warm weather). Easily carry 12st and a lot more. They can jump, dressage and hack all day long. Eventing might be interesting but if Mulray can...

ETA, I think he's in Wales but can't remember.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

LOL!
I am terribly biased though, I just adore arabs. I went all the way down to the New Forest to view my grey. It was worth it, she's a real darling.

 

[Pippity]

I've always thought Arabs are amazingly pretty, but I think it would have to be crossed with an elephant to be able to carry me!

 

[Asha]

Have a look at rarity equestrian, based in Nantwich ( they are on facebook). She isn't a dealer, but has 2 in at the minute. One is a 9yo ( maybe too old) and the other is a 5YO that has been sent in to be restarted. Hes by H Tobago

 

[Bertie_Boo]

I found my last boy by putting up a wanted ad on local Facebook groups, so that might be worth a try. Wishing you lots of luck, I loathe horse shopping with a passion!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I've always thought Arabs are amazingly pretty, but I think it would have to be crossed with an elephant to be able to carry me!

Not true, they (like all horses) shouldn't be expected to carry more weight than is sensible and reasonable, but I'm sure that you don't weigh more than this male rider. Arabs are short backed, with dense bone and short cannons. They are able to carry more than some would expect.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I've seen a lovely Suffolk gelding

I love Suffolks. If I ever won the lottery I'd love a good Suffolk broodmare to breed purebred foals. It's such a shame that there are so few these days.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

I love Suffolks. If I ever won the lottery I'd love a good Suffolk broodmare to breed purebred foals. It's such a shame that there are so few these days.

Only 26 born this year (worldwide) and only 11 of those are fillies. Not a good number but from 27 being scanned in foal (one mare had a virus)

 

[Puzzled]

Will send you a pm...may have something to suit! But I’m more than an hour away. 😕

 

[DabDab]

5yo mare, 15.2hh grey arab x warmblood.

http://www.arabianlines.com/for_sale/index.htm

Oh she's lovely 😍

And I agree with what others have posted, from your OP you do sound like an Arab/Arab part bred would be ideal.
If you want a horse who's primary job is hacking I think you really need something with good old fashioned utility breeding. So Arabs, bigger natives, PRE maybe.